Feeling vulnerable...

If you live in the woods you are used to feeling more vulnerable during the autumn months. The leaves begin to drop, and the underbrush thins. Even my cabin sits there on its stone foundation, becoming more exposed with each falling leaf.

As I sit inside and look out the wall of windows on the back wall, I can see deeper into the woods than I can in full summer. Neither one season nor the other is better, just different. But, I've found that with each one my mood changes.

My cabin has a propane stove to keep me warm at this time of year. So far I haven't lit the pilot light, but soon I'll be turning it on. I hate to depend on propane for comfort! The cost has gone through the roof and I'd rather use wood, but for this one out-building it makes sense. And is it ever cozy!

So, feeling vulnerable as fall arrives is part of the price of living in the woods. Unless, of course, you have a lot of acres. I have only three, but I feel blessed with each one. Only those who walk my property can see me in my cabin, and I have shades to pull if I'd prefer. But the windows on the back wall give me a view that I'd never give up. After all, I'm sure the animals on my land feel more exposed as well, and that's why their fur changes color with the seasons.

How perfect is that?

It's almost time.....

Now that autumn has arrived, it's almost time to begin the supplement feeding of corn to my deer. I say 'my' deer because that's the way I feel about them. In spring, fawns were born and their moms left them to sleep in the dappled sunlight of my woods. During the summer they frolicked between my rows of stacked winter wood, and around my writing cabin windows. As late summer turned to fall, these same deer lost the velvet on their antlers. Now, they are nibbling all the green they can find on the surrounding undergrowth. My field nearby has been rained on during the entire month of September, so the grass there is still rich with nutrients.

Every year at this time my deer walk to the flat stones perched on the small foundations I've made, and look toward my home or cabin. They know that soon, corn will arrive. It always makes me laugh when this one buck stares at me through the windows, and throws glances my way as he puts his nose to my bird feeder. Does he have a sense of humor? I think he does!

One of my favorite places to go is my local feed store. I buy corn there in fifty pound bags and bring it home to fill the containers in my small barn. From there I dole it out according to the need. I love that they know the drill!

It is not yet time. But soon......